He began teaching at the age of fifteen, and when little over twenty was made professor of elocution and poetry at the University of Seville.
He then returned to Spain and, after teaching for three years at Bilbao, started a critical review at Madrid.
The liberal character of the San Mateo educational system was not favored by the government, and in 1823 the college was closed.
[1] Lista after some time spent in Bayonne, Paris and London was recalled to Spain in 1833 to edit the official Madrid Gazette.
All the leading spirits of the young generation of Spaniards, statesmen, writers, soldiers and diplomatists came under his influence.